Sorry!

Comic gem by the saddly missed Ronnie Corbett. Sharply observed situation comedy based on the adult son Timothy still living at home with the overbearing mother and hen pecked father who frequently retreats to the garden shed . We all know these characters or if we don't , we know someone who does lol .

This was one of my favourite sitcoms during the 1980s.

Timothy Lumsden is played by the irrefutible Ronnie Corbett. Is a man in his early 40s living at home with his parents.

I know it's hard to believe but poor old Tim can't leave the qualities of home his inescapable mind isconstantly under the influence of his mother, played by Barbara Lott who plays the part so brilliantly. She was made for the part. I Loved her character immenseley.

William Moore plays the father, who is also under her spell. He's number three in the show and often helps the hilarity of the show.

As the series progressed I always rooted for Timothy to find true love as he did try but somehow couldn't get away.

The theme tune to 'Sorry!' is quite exceptional. It was originally written for a soap opera about 'Sloane Rangers', the trust funded and upwardly mobile sect of London society that saw fit to dress country style in town and vice-versa. This series didn't make it to our screens but the signature music suited the premise of 'Sorry!' very well as the cyclical nature of the melody is a wonderful illustration of Timothy Lumsden's frustrating life. A slightly reggae influenced rhythm section chugs and pumps away as the melody is played on a sophisticatedly urban sounding electric piano with punctuation from what is either a wah-wah guitar or a synthesizer. The horns are obviously performed by the same musicians that did 'Pigeon Street' and the first 'Only Fools and Horses' theme tune. Ronnie Hazlehurst's typically classy arrangement is a good example of this man's devotion to his work although I don't know if he actually wrote the thing, I expect he did.

The show it's self was a very popular vehicle for Ronnie Corbett and it's interesting mixture of pathos and comedy was typical of the output of the BBC which, at this time, was the greatest television production company that has ever been known.

I passed on this little gem the first time around but now I'm older, I am really enjoying it.

Another reviewer put it best for me... "Not too keen at the time, but looking back, a little masterpiece."

And that's exactly how I feel about this. Mind you, I still hate the opening credits and theme song. Just awful, both then and now!

As a youngster, I loved listening to Ronnie Corbett's monologues in 'The Two Ronnies'. This for me was the best bit of the show. He'd be telling an anecdote or a joke and get endlessly sidetracked into other areas of conversation. It was a hilarious and masterful comedy routine. It looked ad-libbed but every utterance was very carefully written and rehearsed.

This series is almost like those monologues as a youthful Ronnie Corbett gets the lions share of the lines and the rest of the cast show up with the intention of sidetracking him from what he wants to do!

The main character is a 41-year-old man still living at home with his domineering mum and submissive father. Although his life hasn't turned out the way he thought it would, he's pretty upbeat about his lot and stumbles onwards and upwards through a series of unoriginal challenges. There's nothing inspirational or groundbreaking about this British comedy... just lots of gentle humor.

If you like Ronnie Corbett or nostalgic British comedy, you could do a lot worse than re-visit this charming program. Would you believe that this program ran for SEVEN years?

The premise of Sorry shares a lot of ground with The Prisoner: A man is kept, against his will, by forces who want to monitor and control his every move and all aspects of his life. Except that instead of a British government agent, it's a downtrodden librarian and instead of a cabal of shadowy extra-government forces, it's his mum.

In one episode,the bars crashing shut motif from The Prisoner is referenced in Sorry so the writers definitely drew a lot of inspiration from the Sixties show. Overall, an amusing sitcom that benefits from terrific central performances and not a creepy weather balloon in sight.